Elon Musk swats down reports James Murdoch is next in line to be Tesla chairman

(Image credit: Getty Images)

On Wednesday, the Financial Times reported that James Murdoch, the outgoing chief executive of 21st Century Fox and son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch, is the top candidate to replace Elon Musk as chairman of Tesla. Musk quickly tweeted a denial.

"This is incorrect," he said. In September, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission reached a settlement with Musk and Tesla over a tweet Musk sent in August, claiming falsely he was going to take Tesla private. Regulators decided Musk can stay on as CEO but must give up his chairmanship, and Tesla must also appoint two new independent directors to its board.

Murdoch is on the boards of 21st Century Fox and News Corp., and he joined the Tesla board last year as an independent director. While he has experience in the media world, he has none in manufacturing. The Financial Times said Murdoch has let it be known he wants to become chairman, but Tesla is looking at other candidates. In June, Reuters reported that the CtW Investment Group recommended against re-electing Murdoch as a Tesla director because he has a "troubled history as an executive and director" and already sits on too many boards.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.